Deduction from private insurance before Aasandha starting tomorrow

The national health insurance scheme, Aasandha, will be issued after deducting from private insurance starting from Friday as part of the government’s efforts to reform Aasandha and control the prices of medications.

Via a message to the media on Thursday, National Social Protection Agency (NSPA) underscored that significant efforts were being undertaken to transform the national health insurance scheme, Aasandha, to a system that is not wasteful and through which the most beneficial and quality services are provided to the public.

In this regard, the Agency announced its decision to prioritize private insurance in billing individuals seeking services from healthcare facilities.

With this change, individuals with private insurance seeking outpatient services will first be billed for their private insurance before Aasandha.

However, a service will be covered under Aasandha in the same manner as present if the limit on the insurance package has been reached or if the service is not covered by the insurance.

NSPA said the new changes will be implemented in phases and in this trajectory, separately for outpatient and inpatient services.

Any complaints regarding the changes can be reported via Aasandha’s ‘Shikaavathi Chatline’.

Notably, NSPA, on Sunday, announced their decision to reduce the prices of 250 essential medications covered under Aasandha as part of efforts to reform the health insurance scheme and control the prices of medications.

The reviewed prices of 87 medications will come into effect on November 1^st while the reviewed prices of the remaining 126 medications will come into effect on November 24^th.

NSPA’s Managing Director and the government’s Chief Spokesperson Heena Waleed said the price adjustments will save Aasandha an estimated MVR 220 million annually.